The Simple Path to Wealth (Revised & Expanded 2025 Edition): Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life

by J.L. Collins

Better to adapt yourself and your attitudes to the numbers than to adapt the strategies to your psychological comfort levels.

Spend less than you earn—Invest the surplus—Avoid debt.

Stop thinking about what your money can buy. Start thinking about what your money can earn. And then think about what the money it earns can earn. Once you begin to do this, you’ll start to see that when you spend money, not only is that money gone forever; the money it might have earned is gone as well. And so on.

If it looks too good to be true, it is. There is no free lunch. Not ever. Your mama taught you this. She was right. Listen to your mama.

Plan your financial future assuming Social Security will not be there for you. Live below your means, invest the surplus, avoid debt, and accumulate F-You Money. Be independent, financially and otherwise. If/when Social Security comes through, enjoy.

Life choices are not always about the money, but you should always be clear about the financial impact of the choices you make.

Carrying debt is as appealing as being covered with leeches and has much the same effect. Take out your sharpest knife and start scraping the little bloodsuckers off.